Carriage clock
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1780-1785
This carriage clock was made in Paris between 1780 and 1785, featuring a movement by clockmaker Robert Robin. The rectangular case is crafted from brass or ormolu and surmounted by a fold-down carrying ring, standing 9 inches high. It incorporates a glazed dial door and is fitted on all four sides with rectangular white hard-paste porcelain plaques. These plaques, lined on the inside with pale green watered silk edged with metallic braid, display symmetrical neoclassical ornament made from stamped gold-leaf foils decorated with jewelled enamels in translucent red and green and opaque turquoise and white.
The enamel dial measures 8.6 cm in diameter on a brass dial-plate and features Roman numerals alongside matching jewelled enamel decoration. The dial includes three jewelled white enamel fleurs-de-lys at the center, winding holes at III and VII, pierced silver hands mounted with small white stones, a laurel wreath cartouche inscribed "Robin", and another signature in a scroll above VI. The porcelain plaque beneath the dial bears the inscription "Robin Her du Roy". The clock movement plates measure 6 cm across and feature two going barrels, a platform cylinder escapement, and a count-wheel striking train. The object is accompanied by an arched, fine-tooled leather carrying case with a padded interior.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
Robert Robin was clockmaker to Marie-Antoinette, Louis XV, and Louis XVI. The accompanying leather case is stamped with the royal monogram of Louis XVI surmounted by a crown. When the clock was bequeathed to the museum by John Jones in 1882, a museum register note recorded a tradition that it once belonged to Marie-Antoinette. The porcelain plaques may originate from the manufactory of the comte d'Artois in the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis in Paris, possibly decorated by Joseph Coteau. The movement has been completely replaced, with a later pendulum and escapement.
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection record for this single object; how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Museum object name
- Carriage clock
- Museum object number
- 1001-1882
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.